Dobey ‘nothing to lose’ against Taylor

Bedlington’s Chris Dobey feels he has ‘nothing to lose’ as he gets set to take on Phil Taylor at the William Hill PDC World Darts Championship which starts this week, writes Andrew McDonnell.

Taylor, who is a 16-time world champion, announced back in January that 2017 would be his final year on the circuit, and Dobey will be hoping to cause a major upset on the big stage when he faces ‘The Power’ in the first round at the Alexandra Palace in London.

“I know it’s going to be hard, but I’m just going to have to be at the top of my game,” he said.

“Hopefully, I’ll be able to get one over on him with it being his last one. I know the crowd is going to want Phil to win.

“They’ll be cheering him on, but I’ll play through that, play my game and hopefully get a result.”

Taylor won his last World Championship crown back in 2013, and will be eager to bow out of the sport with one more.

The sporting great was one of three darting heroes growing up for Dobey, and ‘Hollywood,’ as he is known on the darting circuit, is ‘excited’ for the match on Friday evening.

He added: “I’ve been playing darts for about seven years now. It was either Phil, Steve Beaton and Dennis Priestley, those were the three main ones that I used to watch all the time.

“He (Phil) is a legend in the game. To see what he’s done in the game is phenomenal, I’m looking forward to playing him on that stage.

“It’ll mean everything if I can get one over on Phil. It’ll probably make my mark on the PDC.”

The Northumbrian darts ace beat Justin Pipe in his first ever match at the World Championships last year before bowing out against Dave Chisnall.

There is no doubt that Dobey goes into the game with Taylor as the underdog, but he feels the pressure will be on his opponent at the Alexandra Palace.

Dobey said: “I’ve got nothing to lose really. Being the underdog always takes the pressure off. I like going into games being the underdog and causing upsets.

“I’ve done it quite a few times and hopefully, if I can get the win, people won’t be looking at it like that anymore.”